Bloomingdale's chief executive officer Michael Gould is a fan of President Barack Obama's efforts to speed up tourist visas for Chinese and Brazilian shoppers.

Doing so would create an "immediate" surge in retail sales as foreign shoppers clamour for Marc Jacobs and Kate Spade designs, Gould said in a telephone interview on 27 January. The department store chain is preparing for a potential boom by tailoring merchandise assortments to Brazilian and Chinese tastes and advertising outside of the US for the first time.

Obama signed an executive order 19 January giving the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State 60 days to come up with a plan to process visa applications from China and Brazil more quickly. The order recommends shortening the process to three weeks from four months. Visa processing capacity in China and Brazil must be increased by 40 per cent in the next year, according to the order.